Goals galore, Spartans pride

How do you replace a superstar goalkeeper? Easy, you score five goals.

That’s what Utica Ford II did against Fraser in a Macomb Area Conference crossover game Aug. 30. I had barely settled into my seat at the Ramblers’ stadium before the Falcons began lighting up the scoreboard.

Ford senior forward Ionut Simon opened the scoring just two-and-a-half minutes into the contest after an impressive buildup by the Falcons. Junior midfielder Jimmy Lawson doubled the lead five minutes later to put the Falcons up, 2-0.

The game's tempo then took such a drastic change over the next 60 minutes. The ball remained mainly in the midfield, but Fraser finally got on track when senior midfielder Cameron Holloway surprised Ford with a low, hard shot to the opposite corner to cut the lead in half, 2-1, with 10:57 to play before halftime.

But the Falcons regained their golden touch from the opening minutes as the game wound down. Senior midfielder Dominic Troia found the back of the net twice in the final 10 minutes, and senior forward Lukas Dreser closed out the scoring when he took advantage of a stunned Ramblers team with a well-aimed shot from a long way out with 4:58 remaining.

“All game long we played them tough,” Fraser coach Norm Lentine said. “It was a 2-1 game for the majority of the game, then all the sudden, with 10 minutes left, we just imploded and fell apart.”

The scoring outburst relieved a lot of pressure from Ford senior goalie Alex Forton, who, along with senior Brett Sowers, must replace the graduated Jeremy Clark, who is now competing for time at Michigan State after being named a second-team All-State selection last year.

“You don’t replace Jeremy Clark, you can't, ” Ford coach Dave Crawford said. “But I have two good goalies, and I’m very comfortable with the goalie situation.”

While we’re on the topic of the Michigan State soccer team, I’d like to point out that former Warren De La Salle stars Spencer Thompson (Shelby Township) and Josh Rogers (Sterling Heights) both started MSU’s first two games of the year — a 1-0 win over Oregon State and a 2-0 victory over Western Kentucky. The Spartans' next home game is at 1 p.m. Sept. 23 against Penn State.

And speaking of area Catholic League standouts at MSU, if you diverted your eyes for a few seconds from the debacle in Ann Arbor Sept. 1, you may have noticed Jon Misch making a tackle or two in East Lansing. The former Orchard Lake St. Mary’s star led the Spartans' defense in their 55-18 win over Alabama-Birmingham with a team-high nine tackles.

Misch, a redshirt freshman, started at strong-side linebacker for the Spartans — who host Bowling Green at noon Sept. 8 at Spartan Stadium. Former Detroit Country Day star Deon Curry, a junior wide receiver at MSU, also had three catches for 21 yards during the season-opening victory.